At the Intersection of Faith and Culture

The Racism-Industrial-Complex is as gargantuan an industry as any that has ever existed. And it is more dangerous to life, limb, and liberty than most.

The Industry depends upon the perpetuation of a specific narrative, a racially “correct” story that is the oil that keeps its wheels turning. The Story goes something like this:

In the beginning, the White Man created a “New World.” He called it America. But he erected this new land on the ashes of the corpses of the aboriginals who had inhabited it in peace for millennia, “Native Americans” who the White Man slaughtered en masse. His “New World” also came into being at the expense of the pain of the black Africans who he abducted from their homes and enslaved. Though these blacks eventually achieved their emancipation from slavery, their suffering persists to the present day, for the White Man has never tired of subjecting them to the sinister machinations of his “racism.” At the same time, and because of his sinful, his “racist,” condition, he has continually tried to repent of his transgressions by seeking to repair the irreparable damage that he caused.

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The Story is as unambiguous a “morality tale” as Star Wars, though not nearly as sophisticated as this most unsophisticated film franchise. However, there are still other similarities between The Story and Star Wars.

Both have been remarkably successful in enriching their “creators.” George Lucas is now a gazillionaire because of his brain child. The creators of The Story, the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of the world, aren’t much worse off because of theirs: the captains of the Industry and their cronies in the media, D.C., and the academy have flourished many fold.

Both Star Wars and The Story are deeply ensconced in the popular imagination. Contemporary American pop culture would be inconceivable without either of them —even if the mythos of The Story exerts far more influence than that of Star Wars.

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Both stories depict a perpetual galactic-like contest between the forces of light and those of darkness. Both supply us with bold contrasts between their respective characters. In Star Wars the battle transpires, on one level, between the evil Empire and the noble Rebels. On another level, it occurs between the Sith Lords and the Jedi Knights. The Story, though, is a struggle between the White Oppressors and Black (or Non-White) Victims.

A crucial difference between Star Wars and The Story lies in the fact that the former foundresolution in the redemption of its main villain, Darth Vader. The villain of the latter—the White Man—lacks any such grace, for redemption manages to forever elude him. In fact, insofar as the saga of Star Wars reveals that its arch-villain is actually a fallen hero whose pains and internal conflicts are in many respects more acute than those of the Rebels determined to restore peace and justice to the galaxy, it garners some measure of sympathy for Darth Vader. The villain of The Story, though, is demonized just enough so as to preclude sympathy for him.

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There are legions of truths that put the lie to the Ignoble (but all so useful) Lie that is The Story. In a future article, they will be laid bare. For now, a simple consideration or two should suffice to expose it for what it is.

Everyone knows that Star Wars is, and was always understood to be, fiction. The Story, on the other hand, is promoted as if it were fact.

Yet if life has taught us anything, it has taught us that it is far messier, far more complex, than anything that appears in the works—any work—of fiction. In real life, all of the differences in character that exist between human beings can’t conceal the cold hard truth that the saint and the sinner co-exist within the chest of each and every person. The best morality tales suppose this. Sometimes, as in the case of Star Wars, even the most vulgar hint at it as well.

The Story, however, neglects the human condition entirely.

Thus, The Story is more fiction than fiction. That is, not only doesn’t it have anything to do with real life. It isn’t even good fiction.

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At the Intersection of Faith and Culture

by Jack Kerwick

Regardless of one's views on religion, there is no escaping the fact that Western civilization is unintelligible in the absence of it -- of Christianity specifically. Indeed, even the secular ideologies of our generation derive their identity from the Christianity to which they are opposed. Culture and religion intersect in numerous ways. Through this blog, I explore the intricate relationship between them.